Modern telephones used in business and industries often include a number of keys in addition to the keys in the numerical keypad used to dial telephone numbers. The additional keys are traditionally either programmable feature keys or programmable line keys. Programmable feature keys allow “hot key” like access to a PBX feature (such as a group page feature or speed dial) and a programmable line key provides instant access to a line. As telephones have increased in sophistication, often including many features of portable computing devices, the keys can also be used as hotkeys to enable a user to interact with a graphical user interface. The programmable keys may take the form of physical keys or soft keys on the telephony device. In addition, the keys may be purely virtual represented by a software based Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) application on a computer.
As the number of additional keys has increased, and the number of potential uses for each key expands, the complexity of programming and updating the keypad to provide the desired response from each key has also increased. Programming of keys on a telephone is often a labor intensive activity. Each time a new employee is hired or a person moves to a different location, the keys on the telephone may need to be reassigned. This can require programming each separate key individually.
Even more difficult, each time people's roles and positions change within a company and without, the keys on dozens or even hundreds of phones may need to be reprogrammed to properly identify their function. The difficulty of setting up and maintaining the functionality of the additional keys or buttons on a telephone or graphical computing device can add significant cost of ownership to a company.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended.